Friday, October 23, 2009

I Fell......Again

I don't really want to talk about it but if I'm going to pretend that this blog is a journal then I have to. I need to record the major events in my life and my feelings and my musings about them.

No one would believe how much I don't want to admit that I fell again. Or how vehemently I would deny that it has anything, anything at all, to do with my age. But my fall record is dismal. And I know the main reason is bad judgment.

When I was working, I'd work too fast in difficult conditions in an effort to avoid criticism and for the satisfaction of doing a good job. Now, I guess I don't have the good judgment to stay in when conditions are not very safe. Or to at least walk in a safe area. Already, I'm checking the forecast for tomorrow to see when I can head out to the Dunes again knowing full well that the path will be just as slippery, the leaves will be just as wet, and the roots will be just as hidden. But I always think I can overcome little obstacles like these.

Today I got out much earlier. In fact I took my first picture at 3:31. The colors were beautiful but it was overcast and I didn't have as much light, especially at the end of the trail, as I would have liked.

There's a boardwalk in the middle of the trail that is almost a half mile long. It's not in real good repair but you just have to be careful...and I was. Here's an idea of what it looks like in places:

But mostly it looks more like this:

And I noticed very soon after stepping onto it that it was slippery so I was very careful. Therefore, the boardwalk, at least that boardwalk' was not the problem.

I tried to walk fairly fast between picture taking but the spaces in between pictures were pretty short. All of a sudden, my feet shot out from under me, my head slammed into something solid, and my glasses flew somewhere out of sight (which isn't all that far since my vision without them is pretty poor). I rolled over and struggled to my knees and tried to find my glasses. It took a long time and some fervent prayers but I found them. Thank God!

I had slipped on a very short wooden bridge hidden by wet, slippery leaves.

I got up and continued my walk but not as enthusiastically now. I took more pictures but when I got home and looked at them, I didn't remember taking most of them in fact hardly any of them.

And on the way home, I thought a lot about Natasha Richardson. Not the actress part..the death from a head injury part.

I know this sounds so disturbing but it was extremely traumatic for me. (The only other time when I've hit my head this hard before was when I was in about 2nd grade and a 3rd grader pushed me hard against a brick wall. I saw stars, blackness, and my feet slid out from under me. And no teacher or other kid even noticed. lol)

And to add insult to injury, ever since I slipped and fell in the goldfish pond, the hole in my left elbow which must have been much deeper than I thought has caused me a lot of discomfort. I just can't rest my head on my elbows now when I'm sitting at my desk. I do feel like it's starting to get better though.

Oh no, Mary!!! I'm so sorry. If it is any comfort to you, a week ago I was doing a Creatively Fit walk and I saw a man that had been mean to me on a previous walk (about having a camera in hand). At the same time, I noticed a lady that had "requested" that I take photos of her trees once before. I decided to be "obvious" (for the benefit of the mean man)and walk over to the lady while loudly saying something like, "You know those trees that you ASKED me to photograph..."

Anyway, as I stepped onto the curb that separated her yard from the street, I slipped on leaves as well and crashed directly onto my butt...smack in the middle of a great, big rain puddle. (Talk about being obvious!)

Moments later, Nicholas ran to my side and, BAM!...he went down too! Quite a scene for the neighbors.

So, my point is, it doesn't matter how old you are (and they say age is a state of mind), when you slip on leaves, you are going to go down!!!

My knee is still recovering from the shock! I hope your head is feeling better!

Um. I hate this so much. The very thought of you falling and slamming your head onto something hard just kills me. I really hope that you consider finding an alternate route on these kinds of days. I know you would want (and expect) any of your children to do the same thing. And you're right, all she (Natasha Richardson) did was hit her head really hard. Please, Mom. I'm begging you.

You my friend, need a walking partner. Someone to take care of you when you are out there. I'd love to meet you out there sometime, but I fall almost as much as you. Wouldn't we be a pair??? Still, it could be fun.

My passions include my family and taking and organizing pictures of them and everything else I think is picture-worthy. I have been married for 49 years to my best friend and with six of the world's best children, 20 grandchildren, and 6 great grandchildren, I've been blessed beyond measure. I'm fairly active, recently retired, trying to learn to golf, and hope to remain active enough and busy enough to make these sunset years some of the best years of my life.